“Italy has no more time to reassure the markets. The country needs a functioning government as quickly as possible." The manager said so European State Rescue Fund (EFSF), Klaus Regling, in an interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung to be published tomorrow.
"If a country arrives and tells us it needs help, we are ready," added Regling, suggesting that - if the financial earthquake does not subside - the Fund could help Italy.
There are many possibilities: the EFSF could buy both newly issued securities and bonds already on the market. Or open lines of credit. It would be Rome – Regling explained – that would have to make a formal request for help from the Eurogroup. However, all the interventions of the EFSF would be conditioned by the constraint of the adoption of austerity measures.
